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The story of a company that makes all of its products from…waste? (and of my new cellphone case)

“Each day, one factory may generate as much as 4,500 pounds of excess scrap leather.” That’s according to Scott Hamlin, co-founder of a Portland, Oregon-based company called LOOPTWORKS.

Ridiculous amounts of waste, as we know, are not unique to the leather industry. Apparel in general is incredibly wasteful. Tons of material ends up on factory floors every day and goes straight to landfills.

So, in 2009, Scott and Gary decided to do something about it. They founded LOOPTWORKS, a company entirely dedicated to upcycling discarded materials. Each line is a limited edition run of products made from a specific material that needed a new life.

Ironically, I searched for a while on the Internets for a sustainable case when I first got my new phone in July – the Galaxy S4. I didn’t have any luck, so I gave in and bought some random plastic thing to keep it protected. But now look what I’ve got!

It’s sleek and classy and I love the contrasting colors. The Hainan phone sleeve & wallet has the longevity of leather and a story that I can feel really good about. I just hope my next 10 phones are about the same size…

Thanks to LOOPTWORKS for providing the product for review! As always, my opinions are my own. Some of the links above is are affiliate links so if you do choose to buy from LOOPTWORKS and you use those links you’ll be supporting HeartSleeves’ mission to improve the fashion industry.